We have had a successful mission with the ILS Proton Rocket, carrying the SES-4 satellite built by Space Systems/Loral for SES. We have had confirmation that the ViaSat-1 satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 11:48pm EST, or 04:48 GMT, 9 hours and 12 minutes after liftoff.
Everything occurred as planned with ignition, shutdown and separation of the Proton’s first three stages. Then the Breeze M upper stage with the satellite continued the mission, igniting five times, and then releasing the satellite into transfer orbit.
 

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We have confirmed that the Breeze M upper stage has successfully completed its 3rd burn and 4th burn, as well as jettisoning its additional propellant tank. The vehicle is now in a 5-hour coast period, during which we will have nothing to report. The 5th burn is scheduled to start around 11:30 pm EST or 04:30 GMT. Separation of SES-4 spacecraft is scheduled to follow the 5th burn completion by about 13 minutes.

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As the Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the SES-4 satellite on-board, we have received confirmation that the 2nd burn of the upper stage occurred and shut down as scheduled.
The next events are scheduled for about 2 hours from now. The Breeze M upper stage will ignite for a 3rd time and burn for approximately 11 minutes; after that the additional propellant tank will be jettisoned and the the Breeze M will ignite and burn for a 4th time. All this will happen in a span of almost 20 minutes while the vehicle is again out of range of a ground station. We should reacquire the vehicle shortly after the 4th burn is complete.
 

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We have received confirmation of completion of the first burn. The vehicle is now scheduled to be out of range for about an hour, after which we will hear confirmation of the second burn.

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We had a successful liftoff about 11 minutes ago of the ILS Proton M Breeze M rocket, which is carrying the SES-4 satellite on-board. The three stages of the Proton vehicle have performed as planned, and it is up to the Breeze M upper stage to complete the mission. The upper stage has begun its first burn, which is scheduled to last around 4 minutes.
 

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We have liftoff! of the Proton M Breeze M rocket and the SES-4 satellite.

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A lot of the SES-4 crew woke up early this morning and braved the cold for the Integrated Launch Vehicle (ILV) to rollout to the launch pad from the Breeze M fueling station for the second time.  The ILV should be at the launch pad shortly, and then it will be erected.  The next few days will be busy as we prepare for launch.  Thanks to the Pinkertons for a great spaghetti night last night. It was a great way to cap off the Breeze M fueling days.

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Well another day here at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. We woke up to below freezing temperatures and everyone’s wondering "when will I thaw out?".

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